DOWRY Dowry means those gifts and presents which are given by a father or a guardian to his daughter at the time of her marriage. In ancient times, it was considered as a sort of help to the newlyweds to establish their own home. Mostly the dowry in those days was in kind, say a variety of things useful for new homes, and not in cash, as the system now prevails. Those gifts were given voluntarily and without any demands made under pressure. About a hundred years ago, there was a custom that the prospective husband used to offer gifts and presents to his would-be bride’s father. But this custom proved a major handicap for many persons who could not marry early in life for want of funds to buy such gifts. There were many unfortunates who could not marry at all for this reason. But custom are never stationary. They undergo changes. Now, at present this custom has been reversed. Instead of the prospective husband, it is the bride’s parents who have to offer gifts and presents to the bridegroom and his parents. As such, it has become extremely difficult to arrange a girl’s marriage without dowry. Now, the system has become a social evil. Dowry system has... read more

DOWRY Dowry has become one of the greatest evils in the country. Formerly it was prevalent among the royal families. Sometimes it had political significance too. A portion of the kingdom was bestowed upon the bridegroom to cement the relations. Gradually it became a custom among the rich. With the growth of caste system it took another turn. In some of the rich communities like Agrawals in the North and Reddys in the South it became an essential frivolous part of the marriage. Cash and presentation articles worth lakhs of rupees are offered and demanded in these communities. Since it has become an essential custom in these communities even the poor have to arrange huge sums if they have to marry their daughters and sisters. Gradually the custom of dowry has crossed the caste barrier and has spread in the whole society. Although there is a strict law against dowry, it is not implemented in the same way as the law against child marriage is not implemented. In 1987 goods worth crores of rupees were given as dowry by a minister of the ruling party to the bridegroom, the son of an ex-minister. Both belong to the princely families. If laws are ignored by ministers they are ignored by... read more

DOWRY Dowry means those gifts and presents which are given by a father or guardian to his daughter at the time of her marriage. In ancient times, it was considered as a sort of help to establish their own home for the newlyweds. Mostly the dowry in those days was in kind, say a variety of things useful for new homes, and not in cash, as the system now prevails today. These gifts were given voluntarily and without any demands made under pressure. About a hundred years ago, there was a custom that the prospective husband used to offer gifts and presents to his would-be bride’s father. But this custom proved a major handicap for many persons who could not marry early in life for want of funds to buy such gifts. Again, there were many unfortunates who could not marry at all for this reason. But customs are never stationary. They undergo changes. Now, at present this custom has been reversed. Instead of the prospective husband, it is the bride’s parents who have to offer gifts and presents to the bridegroom and his parents. As such, it has become extremely difficult to arrange a girl’s marriage without dowry. Now, the system has become a social evil. Dowry system... read more

DOWRY AN EVIL FOR THE SOCIETY ‘Dowry’ is an evil that has always been there in Indian society. In the earliest times, dowry was given to a girl at the time of her marriage. It consisted of jewelry, clothes, utensils and other household goods. It was considered to be the gift to the girl. Some rich people and kings even gave horses, elephant etc. to their daughters. As the society changed, our values also changed and now people openly demand dowry according to their status, and education of their boy. The higher the status, the higher the rate of dowry. If the bride’s parents are not able to pay the required dowry, the bride is harassed and even physically tortured. In many cases, they are burnt alive. Some even commit suicide as they are not able to bear the harassment meted out to them. Many families are ruined due to the demand of dowry because poor and middle class families are not able to find suitable matches for their daughters. Many reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayanand and Tagore tried to eradicate the dowry system from our society but they could get a little success. Our government and several NGOs are working to save brides from this... read more